Happy Sad.

Do you sometimes get the feeling of being happy and sad at the same time? You can't explain it.  It's the feeling you get during Christmas Season.

You're happy buying gifts, you're joyous decorating the tree, you're giggling as you go through old pictures of Christmas past. Yet as you hear Christmas carols, you feel a tinge in the heart as you remember spouses, children, parents or siblings who've departed the earthly life, or as you reminisce about soured relationships or friendships.

It's bitter sweet.

It's like cracking open a green mango with your bare teeth, and tasting its sourness yet you love its crunchiness.

It's like reaching the end of a marathon and feeling your legs no more but ecstatic at seeing your finish time.

For mothers, it's like that last painful push in the delivery room and hearing the baby's first cry.

Ask a one- year old how s/he feels and s/he'd give you a blank stare; but carry him/her in your arms and s/he'd smile or hug you back.

Actors are portrayed as having two faces, half sad, and half smiling. It connotes versatility in acting, being able to switch to and from different roles.

Happy people give easy smiles to everyone, and encourage friendships and openness. Those who present a dour disposition sink deeper into their holes of despair and give a flashing sign to others that they should be avoided.

Into the New Year with Old Toys.

I stopped buying toys, meaning gadgets.  I'm happy with a mac laptop and a notebook which are very useful when I blog.

I stopped buying new cellphones, too.  I even stopped watching movies in the regular cinemas; I am often glued to HBO for Hollywood films, anyways.

I figured I can survive; without those new, ever changing- model gadgets, and being mugged.

I am still amazed to see people in malls, in coffee shops, working or playing with their tablets.  I told the mate who also wondered, that these people probably use the mall as an extension of their homes and offices. After all, all the malls in Manila are one big air conditioned pavillion.

Then I saw a news clip where a guy nonchalantly swiped the laptop/tablet of a coffee shop patron right in front of the victim who was busy talking on his cellphone.  The victim jumped over the fence of the sidewalk cafe but didn't catch the hoodlum.  Which reminded me of an incident wherein we were crossing the street going to Megamall when a speeding motorbike with a duo on it passed us by, then a woman was after them, screaming, because her bag had been snatched.

This morning, we went jogging/walking in a section of the village which is still practically under development, with few houses and wide, vehicle-free streets. We drove and parked the car and joined other joggers and bicyclists in their routine.

After the walk on the way to the wet market, I noticed that my wallet was missing, so I turned around to check at home. Then I saw the neighbour who lives in a nearby street and whom I casually greet whenever I see him, in front of his gate.

I rolled down the window and said hi.  Immediately he asked, "what's your surname, again?"

I gave him my last name and he said, "I found your wallet near your gate as I rode my bike this morning." I remembered I tucked it under the waistband of my jogging pants, and closed the gate.

The man let me into his house and returned my wallet. I thanked him profusely while his parting words were "praise the Lord."

Of course, I thanked the Lord.

One of the basics in life is still free: honest, decent people around.

Into the New Year with the old tunes.

One American in-law of a sister thought that the Philippines was still under the Americans.  Perhaps, she was glued in the 40's and because she saw so many Filipinos living in the U.S.A, she thought that the Philippines was still part of the U.S. commonwealth like Puerto Rico.

Frank Sinatra's Fly me to the Moon is a popular among karaoke and videoke singers

Being glued in a certain era or period happens to many.  Yesterday as we celebrated the last day of Christmas in an IHMMEC Christmas party, some young members had a hard time finding songs they knew from a karaoke song book.

Others found songs familiar to them in a breeze.

Songs by the Carpenters, Cliff Richard, the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Paul Anka, Matt Monroe and Manila local singers like Sharon Cuneta, Dina Bonevie, Freddie Aguilar and Marco Sison are popular among karaoke and videoke afficionados.

Each one represents a certain decade or era. There's the jazz era, disco era, or the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and  so forth yardstick.

Filipino artist Freddie Aguilar of the internationally-acclaimed Anak

One could refuse or find it difficult to learn new songs and stick to the songs of one's teen years or early adulthood; others belt out old and new songs and some young ones try to learn the revivals. Some oldies listening to the music of their children adopt the new tunes easily.

Manila New Year Wishes.

Up near the creek shanties appear like raw mushrooms
Waiting to be plucked,
As stray dogs patrol the nearby area
Like dingo in Australian outbacks,
Pedicabs roar as backride passengers' feet
Dangle dangerously within passing cars' reach,
And "bodol bodol" gangs canvass houses
As masters of the mansion homes toil in offices at noon.

Congressmen take naps even while at sessions,
Lady senators babble at their reproductive health,
City mayors etch their names in park pots and overpass,
While Barangay heads photoshop their faces onto ambulance cars.

Soap stars sing and singers act,
Street kids gangnam their way into you tube fame,
Twelve year olds tweet while mom and dad sleep,
Sixteen year olds drown at Starbucks shops,
As Nokia and Iphone snatch at working man's paycheck.

Ivory Coast, China and Israel
Kenya and Palestine,
Egypt and Jordan,
Connecticut neighbourhood,
Iran and Iraq
Fighting erupts even at New Year.

Change should be on the way,
People must shout their dismay,
Kids and grown ups never should stray
In their focus to destroy the evil days.